Blinken: Russia is using food as a weapon in Ukraine

The US Secretary of State has accused Russia of using food as a weapon against millions of people in Ukraine and other countries around the world by holding food supplies hostage. Russia denies the accusation.

"The Russian government seems to think that by using food as a weapon it can do what the military invasion of Ukraine failed to do: destroy the morale of the Ukrainian people," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a speech to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, May 19.

According to Reuters, he called on the Russian government to end the blockade of Ukrainian ports.

Blinken clarified: “The decision to use food as a weapon depends solely on Russia.”

Russia's response: "We are not stupid"

In response, a senior Russian government official denied the accusation, saying that the country's officials were "not stupid" and that Russia would not export food to other countries while it was under widespread international sanctions.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on the Telegram social network that Russians, under the right conditions, are skilled at producing the food the world needs.

The Russian Security Council deputy added: "Everything seems illogical. On the one hand, there are crazy sanctions, and on the other, there is a demand for food supplies."

Medvedev also wrote: "Things don't work that way. We are not stupid."

Medvedev added that crop production requires skilled agricultural workers, as well as appropriate equipment and fertilizers.

The former Russian president stressed: "We have every opportunity to ensure that there is food in other countries so that there is no crisis. Just don't forbid us from working."

In this regard, Vasily Nebenzia, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, also called the accusations that Russia is to blame for the global food crisis "completely false" and rejected them.

The importance of Russia and Ukraine in the world's grain supply

Russia's military invasion of Ukraine has caused prices for grains, cooking oil, energy and fertilizer to skyrocket. Ukraine and Russia are the world's largest wheat exporters and play a major role in global food security, accounting for nearly a third of the world's wheat supplies.

Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn, barley, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. Russia and Belarus, which are helping Moscow in its war against Ukraine, account for more than 40 percent of global potash exports.

Potash fertilizer is used to produce wheat, rice, grapes, and cereals, and the food supply of millions of people, especially in poor countries or those lacking sufficient industry and agricultural products, depends on potash.

Since Russia blockaded Ukrainian ports, grain exports via the Black Sea have been impossible. Kremlin officials have announced that the possibility of opening Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea for grain exports is conditional on the lifting of some Western sanctions against Moscow.

Source: DW